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Annabelle will no doubt recognize the cast of the sunlight and the thin dry feel of the air when she and Ellen emerge at last from the reeking Metro tunnels. They're on the opposite side of the Mall from last time, though, and the steps up on this side aren't anywhere near the same- they're rusted, corroded, two-hundred-year-old escalator steps, frozen in place with the weight of time and decay. "I don't hear too much from here," Ellen reports, "but I'm all out of Stealth Boys, so we'd better be careful. There might be mutants."

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From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"Huh. Okay, that could be useful," says the ghoul. "Think you can help her out any? She's been out for a few days."

"What's wrong with her, exactly?" Ellen asks as she starts to remove the part of her armor that covers her fingertips and hand.

"She had a real bad case of supermutant, as far as we could tell when they brought her in," says the ghoul. "Quinn found her outside of Underworld, pleeding and unconscious. Broken ribs, bashed skull, snapped collarbone, you name it. I got her as stable as I could and put some stimpaks in her to get the bones knitting, but humans're so fragile..."

"I might be able to get her on her feet," Ellen says. "Just possibly. I've got some things I keep for extreme emergencies in the bottom of my pack."

"Be my guest," says the ghoul. "She's not getting any better like this, and I don't wanna make her worse."

Ellen nods, rummaging in her pack, then digging all the way down to the bottom. Eventually she comes up with a weirdly skinny bottle of something that glows a faint translucent blue. "I had a medic I know named Ratchet analyze this," she says. "It's mostly stem cells, along with a few other things to speed healing and neurological regeneration. It does absolute wonders... we're going to need to get her mouth open or get a syringe, though."

From:

aeons_crackshot

Annabelle nods solemnly at the list of injuries and eyes the glowing blue vial curiously.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asks Ellen.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

Wordlessly, the ghoul opens a drawer and gives Ellen an empty syringe, which she proceeds to fill with the contents. "I think we should be all right," she says, "but someone's going to have to give her the shot for me. This probably needs to go into her bloodstream, and I've only ever done intramuscular shots."

"I can do it," says the ghoul, coming forward. "Gimme."

"Thanks," Ellen says, and after a little dabbing at the woman's arm with what might be mercurochrome, the ghoul performs a textbook-perfect injection. "Now we wait."

A few moments later the woman groans, blinks, and tries to lift her head. "Wh- where am I?" she says. "What happened?... and how long have I been out?"

From:

aeons_crackshot

"Whatever that was, it worked quickly," Annabelle says with an impressed whistle.

"You took a hell of a beating in a fight," Annabelle tells the woman with a small smile.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"I'll tell you about it later," Ellen murmurs.

The woman's got a look of sudden, horrified realization on her face. "Oh, shit, she says, and struggles to sit up, even swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. "My team! What the hell happened?"

"I don't think you're in any kind of condition to be up and about," the ghoul rasps.

"That's not the way I do things," the woman snaps back. "Do you have any idea what it would do to my reputation if word got around that Reilly of Reilly's Rangers was laid up in a hospital bed?"

From:

aeons_crackshot

Annabelle is experiencing an odd sense of deja vu. Annabelle has been in Reilly's position many times, and she's finally on the other end of the argument.

"Nothing as damaging as ending up a main course because you weren't capable of defending yourself," Annabelle replies dryly.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

Reilly shakes her head. "I feel worse than I look," she says with a crooked smile, "but that doesn't even matter to me. I'm just worried about the rest of the Rangers. I don't even know if they're still alive. We were mapping the Vernon Square part of the downtown ruins and got jumped by a supermutant ambush party. Usually they aren't a problem, but this group was bigger than usual- a lot bigger- and we got pushed into one of the buildings trying to find cover. We got pinned on the roof and I tried to use a Stealth Boy to get away for help, but..."

From:

aeons_crackshot

"Something went wrong," Annabelle finishes. She glances at Ellen and raises a brow. They might be able to find out if her men are still alive, if nothing else.

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"Bingo," says Reilly. "I was almost at the street when a supermutant jumped me. Almost ripped off my arm. Last thing I remember was falling into a culvert... some rescue attempt, huh?"

"It might not be a complete failure," Ellen says. "If they're still alive-"

"If there's even the slimmest chance of surviving, they'll do it," says Reilly.

Ellen glances over at Annabelle, and then back at Reilly. "What buildings are we talking about here?"

Reilly exhales, looking visibly relieved at the implied offer. "Our Lady of Hope Hospital," she says. "The Rangers were up on the roof of the Statesman Hotel when I left them, but you can't get in from the street. There's a collapsed radio antenna bridging the gap between the buildings a couple of floors up- it's the only way I can think of that you can get into the Statesman at all."

Ellen shudders. She may be over her agoraphobia, but heights still give her the bahoogies. "Okay," she says. "We can try, I think- right, Annabelle?"

From:

aeons_crackshot

"I think we'll do better than try," Annabelle says with a smile. "I don't suppose you can give us directions?"

From:

aaaaaaaagh_sky

"Your best bet's to stick with the Metro tunnels," says Reilly. "Head north from here until you hit Metro Central. There's a tunnel from there to Dupont Circle that's still intact. You'll probably have to come up there, but if you can work your way to one of the old sewer entrances, that'll put you out in the hospital basement without too much trouble."

From:

aeons_crackshot

Annabelle nods in understanding. "Thank you for the information. I think Ellen and I had best make haste if we're going to get your men out of there alive."